CJ Perez expressed concern with how San Miguel has been managing the endgame following a near-collapse against Magnolia in the curtain-raiser of their PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup Finals on Friday night.
The Beermen took the 103-95 decision for the early lead in the best-of-seven affair, but not before surviving a fourth-quarter assault by the Hotshots that saw the latter get to within just five after being down by as many as 20 points.
The BPC candidate did join hands with main man June Mar Fajardo by nailing crucial free throws in the clutch to ward off their ever-gritty opponents, but it’s safe to say that he’s not a fan of such finishes in matches.
“Yun yung nakaka-concern talaga,” said Perez moments after the win at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. “‘Yung mga ganyang endgame, tapos nagmimintis ng mga free throws; sloppy ‘yung defense. Parang wala ng energy.”
As far as he’s concerned, Perez said that San Miguel has been in similar situations multiple times in the past, thus his worry about the team apparently not learning from its lessons — that it happened again in Game 1.
A similar case took place in Game 1 of the semis versus Ginebra, where they allowed the latter to tie the game at 90-all with a minute left to play and almost lost due to unlucky trips to the foul line before escaping with a two-point win.
Asked where that kind of problem stems from, the 30-year-old guard opined that they tend to relax especially when the other team brings in the reserves.
Magnolia did bring in its third group led by Joseph Eriobu and Russel Escoto when SMB went up 94-74 early in the fourth, but the bench guys sparked a rally that enabled the Hotshots to give out a major threat late.
“I think parang inu-underestimate na yung mga pinapasok, parang ganun. I think ‘yun ‘yung nangyayari eh,” said the former Rookie of the Year,
“Parang pagpasok nung mga bench, I think sina Coach Chito [Victolero] pinasok na ‘yun para sila na ‘yung magtapos, makapagpahinga ‘yung mga [starters] nila. ‘Yun yung kailangan naming iwasan,” he added,
Now, all that Perez hopes is for the rest of San Miguel to learn from Friday night as they now head into Game 2 on Sunday, hoping to go 2-0.
“Kailangan namin ibahin yun. Kailangan hindi kami magrelax sa endgame,” he said. “Laking learning sa amin ‘to. Kailangan, hindi ganun. Dapat 48 minutes talaga kami maglaro. Para matapos namin ng maayos.”
